


Pandemonium

by Myoot



Category: Diablo (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Other, Violence, angel - Freeform, diablo angel, im having fun torturing sabirah tbh, oh so much angst, pandemonium
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 11:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17487329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myoot/pseuds/Myoot
Summary: “Your road will be treacherous, you may not find the answers you seek. You will experience betrayal, your mentality will be tested. You may not come back alive, should you complete your goal. Is Wisdom worth the trouble?"A nod.





	1. Prologue

_"You, along with Malthael's other trusted followers, have been chosen to a search and rescue task on Sanctuary. Find Wisdom, bring him back unharmed."_  
  
  
The group all sat (except one) at a rounded table. Each had their own things they had brought for the trip- either to keep them entertained or alive. Sanctuary... wasn't the best for an angel, it was corrupted, filled with humans and demons  that could kill them in mere moments. While her colleagues sat and talked, she stared to the horizon, watching the clouds dance and merge together, adding on to the radiance of the High Heavens. Sharply shaped white wings folded neatly against her back. Her robes were of a dark grey and brushed against the floor, possibly only mere millimeters from actually touching it. She wore gauntlets, a chest piece and greaves made out of darkened steel, blending in with her robes almost perfectly. Around her waist was a belt holding two pouches square in shape. Her hands behind her back, her white wings waving slowly yet stiffly- she was nervous. In no way was she qualified for something like this. Yes, she had given up her speech for the privilege of unlimited knowledge- but she was a scholar, not a soldier. All she did was sit at her desk for years on end and do nothing but write. A silent sigh escaped her as she watched the stars begin to rise. As soon as the final member of the group would arrive, they would leave. They were to scout all the major cities of Sanctuary first, and then work around the smaller towns until no stone was left unturned. The angel's wings stiffened when she heard laughter, making her look over her shoulder in confusion. How could they laugh in such dire times? Malthael, the leader of the Angiris Council, archangel of Wisdom had gone missing! No notes, nothing!  
  
She looked back to the clouds, her hidden brows knitting together. Why would he suddenly leave like that? It... wasn't like him, to suddenly leave his only home. He  would have told somebody- he would have told her, written her something, anything to let her know of his departure. Another sigh escaped her. Any minute now, they would be ready to open up a portal and leave. No one knew for how long, but if luck was on their side, they wouldn't be in Sanctuary for long.   
  
"Join us, Sabirah!" Called out a voice, causing for her to look over her shoulder. Aracai. She had brought all the attention on her. Sabirah turned around, her wings almost whipping the air as she did so. Who dared to break her concentration? With a heavy aura, her feet left the platform floor and she glided down the stairs, down to where the group was. She halted a few feet away from them, head held high. Aracai broke the silence yet again.  
  
"Join us in a talk, Sabirah. It's not wise to worry before a mission." She hummed, leaning back on her chair. She almost wanted to roll her eyes at her attitude. She always was laid back, and the worst- she always tried to engage in conversations with her! Her wings visibly stiffened and flared up, warming the temperature around her. Aracai didn't flinch like the others, she merely gave a laugh.   
  
"You don't scare me, Sabi." She said, her light blue wings splayed carelessly behind the chair. Sabirah gave her one last glare, her sharp wings folding neatly. No reason to be angry, Sabirah. She's just trying to provoke you. She wasn't worth the effort. However, she did join the group at the table, sitting on a chair with her back straight. Set an example, Sabirah. That idiot clearly isn't setting one. Another angel at the table spoke, this time more mature, more calm than the both of them.  
  
"We are to wait for Urzael's arrival." She said, her voice a low hum. Their hoods all turned at the sound of a thrumming song joining with theirs. Speak of the angel...  
  
"I trust everyone is ready?" He asked, his feet meeting the platform. The man was met with hums of agreement, as well as all the maidens standing up from their seats. As the others regrouped around him, Sabirah took the chance to give the Heavens one last look before her departure. She's going to miss seeing the clouds from above.  Her white wings perked down a little as she too, stood up, picking up her satchel and swinging the strap over her shoulder before joining her fellow maidens. Urzael wasted no time to open a portal, the reflected image inside the fiery borders indicating a road in the middle of the night. Sabirah sent the angel a confused glance.  
  
"We will have to attract the least attention possible." He responded, watching as the maidens entered the portal one by one. She silently sighed. Once it was her turn to enter, the female dipped her head down and steppes through the barrier; fully and officially entering the place that pulled her curiosity and affirmed her dread.  
  
  
Sanctuary.


	2. Westmarch

Instantly, Sabirah was met with the sudden darkness of Sanctuary. The sky was a series of dark blue hues, along with some violet subtly splattered here and there. The light- or, lack of light gave the environment around her a sombre feel.  There were some trees around them, some lacking in leaves or even in color. The trees too were much different from those of the Heavens; for example, they did not glow. The leaves didn't change every second and they emitted no song. To the angelic eye, they were bland, but also strangely interesting and captivating to look at. The angelic host were near a road of dirt too, it followed the horizon orderly, footprints and hoof prints embedded in the recently used dirt, going back and forth between the locations the road lead to. It must be hard work for a mortal to go back and forth between such a long distance. It had to be such a pain to be a mortal. Sabirah's head turned to the sky yet again. It was... nice, to see the sky as another color than a warm light blue. She had always wondered what stars looked like from outside the reflections of the pools of wisdom- and she couldn't even find herself to be disappointed at them. She wasn't the only one to be captivated by the environment, Ramma, a maiden who took care of cleaning the pools, also refused to take her hidden eyes from the night sky, her soft silver wings undulating ever so calmly, moved slightly by the faintest of winds.   
  
"Incredible... how could Inarius have possibly done this?" Spoke Ramma, her voice filled with awe. Sabirah, now noting the light their wings were causing, stepped aside from the group and knelt down, running a gauntlet through the short grass. It was... eerie. It felt weird, soft, but at the same time dense and dry- an odd combination that, for some reason, worked together. She pulled a few strands of grass from the ground, examining the organic blades of dark green and lifting them up towards what little light the white sphere of a moon gave out, noting carefully how he light affected them before stashing them in one of her pouches. She turned around just in time to see the portal close behind Urzael, taking away the orange to red hue of light from the group, leaving their wings as their only strong source of light for the moment.   
  
"It is currently known as 'night time' in the mortal realm. Many humans are sleeping at this point, so I ask of you to make as little noise as possible and to move quick." He said, his wings folding behind his back.   
  
"Our objective is to retrieve our master safely, no harm shall be done to him." She almost wanted to scoff. Come on, they were all Malthael's most trusted! No one here would even begin to dream about harming the archangel!   
  
"Where are we exactly, Urzael?"   
  
"We are a few human hours from a city known as 'Westmarch'." Mortals had such odd names for their cities.   
  
"Let's go then, we're wasting time by standing here like stars." Huffed Aracai, instantly beginning to march over to the nearby sign. Hey, at least mortals were smart enough to give directions without using words. Only wood and letters. Sabirah's wings flared up. Another maiden spoke up, saying how it would be best if they all were to disguise themselves as a mortal. This seemed to spark a conversation between them all- well, except one. Sabirah dipped her head down with a sigh as she overheard the debate. However, she took the time to shut out the group from her mind and focus more on Sanctuary and what was known about it. It wasn't apart of the natural balance of life. There was good and evil- but no in-betweens should exist, at least not naturally. Inarius... what went through his head to be able to make a place as mysterious as this? He hadn't been alone, since Lillith had been his mate throughout their whole ordeal, but still. How could they come up with all of this? As she continued in her thoughts, she was broken from her trance by a tingling sensation in her light. She looked at the group, confused.   
  
"We're going invisible to the mortal eye." Informed Urzael, whom had begun picking up pace- Heavens, his feet had left the ground and his wings were positioned in such a way that he was ready to bolt. Right, they could just fly around Sanctuary and get this done faster. Sabirah's wings flapped, sending her in the air, inches above everyone. She looked down at them, flapping her white wings expectantly. Urzael was quick to join her in the air.   
  
"Bright idea!" He exclaimed, his wings fluttering, as if having anticipated the idea of flight.    
  
"Ladies," he started once all had met the air.   
  
"Westmarch is this way." He finished, almost bolting in the direction the dirt road lead to. The maidens all shared a glance, some of amusement and some of curiosity, but all, including Sabirah, were quick to follow the lieutenant.   
  
  
  
  
  
Westmarch was... bigger than they'd expected it to be. The angelic hoard stopped on top of what they could presume to be the middle of the city, Sabirah looked down, her wings perking up in curiosity. There were some humans here and there, but they were mostly all drunk, possibly on their way home after a night of heavy drinking. Anu, this place was a mess, filth, dirt and dust everywhere. How could they live like this?!   
  
"Alright, everyone," She looked back up at him once he began to speak.   
  
"Split up and cover as much ground as you can and hurry. Turn a blind eye to nothing and try to keep yourselves clean." She almost heard him mumble 'it's a mess out here...'. The maidens, some repulsed or disgusted, gave a mere grunt of reluctant agreement. Some were eager, interested by the lifestyle of the mortals. Sabirah was with those who were disgusted.   
  
"Shouldn't we look in the streets too?" Urzael almost scoffed.   
  
"You know as well as I do that the Master doesn't go in the public much." He said, earning an embarrassed huff from the maiden who suggested the idea. Sabirah internally rolled her eyes, watching as everyone parted their own ways. After a moment, she set out to follow the road to the north- having been told to go look over the north sector of the city. Her hands wrapped around the strap of her satchel as she flew higher up, examining the tops of the buildings. No... too cramped, Malthael couldn't possibly be here. It was too... close. The maiden looked around, noting how... primitive the buildings under her were. Gothic styled, some being small houses and others shops. Really, they needed to catch up, even the Hells had possibly better buildings than this. Plus, there was muck everywhere! The streets were barely wide enough for two horses (and that's not counting the stands here and there). She despised Sanctuary already.   
  
"Mrrow." She paused, her wings stiffened in surprise. Had she heard the noise for real? What... what was that? She turned her head over to a darkened alleyway, where the noise had come from. Cautiously, she glided down over to the spot, yet stopped in her tracks at the entrance.   
  
"Mrrow." There it was again! Now there was a slight tapping on the bricked ground, causing for her to begin panicking. She froze, seeing a dark grey creature approaching her from the dark. Oh no. Oh dear, that was a demon. She was weaponless and about to get mauled by a demon! This is how she would die, isn't it? By some wretched de-   
  
"Mrrow?" She paused in her thoughts, looking to see a small, scruffy creature at her feet, looking up at her with curiosity. It could... see her? Cautiously, the maiden of Wisdom lowered herself to the ground and bent over, extending a hand towards the creature's muzzle. As it sniffed it curiously, she recalled reading about an animal on Sanctuary that was similar to this one. A cat, was it? It looked enough like it, despite it having both eyes closed and ragged, uneven fur. She flinched when it begun rubbing its face on her gauntlet, purring rather loudly. Huh, this 'cat' seemed to be friendly to her. Gently and carefully, she picked it up and lifted it in the air. She could see its ribcage- the thing must have some troubles with food. Hmmm... she knew of a spell but only time would tell if it worked. Holding the feline in one arm, she pressed her thumb to its forehead, a soft light beaming under it for a few seconds before she retracted her thumb, a white spot being in its previous place. The cat 'looked' at her and meowed, nuzzling its head to her breastplate, resulting in her wings brightening and stiffening.    
  
Now she couldn't just leave it there, she had tempered with its nature, it would surely be the target of demons. Normally, she wouldn't have cared, but the sweet little thing had already put all of its trust on her in such little time. Sabirah looked at her satchel. It was big enough to carry the cat... she sighed. Oh, she was going to regret this. Opening her satchel with the tendrils of her wings, she was quick to empty out the satchel and put all of its previous contempt's into her pouches. Carefully, she slid the feline in the bag, closing it and letting the feline poke its nose out from the edges that were partially open. Straightening her back and dusting all evidence of a cat off of her robes, Sabirah lifted herself off the ground again and resumed in her search as best as she could. Besides, the sun was soon going to rise, and so far she'd spent her time taming a cat and making it immortal. It's not like it had the ability to have powers, right? ... right?   
  
Her wings perked up a little as she moved forwards, a hand resting on the top of the satchel. She stopped again at a building, her gaze turned up at the sign.    
  
'Inn of the Black Ram' she gave a small huff, oh, certainly not. She took to the sky again, keeping the satchel in her grip at all times- in fear of it somehow falling and killing the animal now living in it. The maiden of Wisdom's wings flapped a little to keep her in the air, giving the are around her one final sweep from the air. No signs of Malthael here, unfortunately. She sighed quietly, resuming in what was left of her search. It took little time for her to have covered the north section of the city. Frankly, she'd heard from mortal books that this was one of the most marvelous cities in all of Sanctuary. Honestly, she found that they were wrong. From under her hood, she blinked at the sudden realization that the sun had begun to rise. Had she really spent a few mortal hours to scout the north section? She thought only a few mortal minutes had passed! Sheesh, this city really was small. She looked down at her satchel and opened it, now finding the cat peacefully sleeping at the bottom of it, barely acknowledging her presence. She closed the bag quietly. Looking down, Sabirah now saw that humans had begun to grow more active. Even at the crack of dawn, some were awake, albeit possibly tired and sleepy. She took notice that it was mostly those that owned shops or inns that were awake at this hour. How odd. Even with a full night of sleep, humans somehow still found a way to be tired in the morning. The maiden looked away now gliding around, scouring the area around her- looking for the rest of her fellow angels of Wisdom.   
  
Not here... not there... definitely not here... aha! They had begun grouping up where they had first arrived. Sabirah flew over and stopped swiftly next to the small group, greeting them with a nod. Urzael's wings flicked.   
  
"Have any of you found anything as to where the master is- or might be?" He asked, anticipating the possible 'yes'.   
  
"I've found nothing in the West section."   
  
"The same goes for South."   
  
"And East." The group turned their hoods to Sabirah, as if silently asking a question. She gave a curt nod; north had been empty too. Urzael's wings perked down, as he looked at the maidens who had gone on the outside.   
  
"And the outside?"   
  
"We've found no trace, I'm afraid to confirm that we are no closer to Malthael than we were before." Urzael gave a sigh,  bringing a hand to hid hood and rubbing the face underneath. He was frustrated of coming to a dead end. Right... well, they still had quite a few cities to go explore, and then they would do a full sweet of Sanctuary just to be sure. Sabirah's grip tightened on the strap, her wings flapping to keep her in the air. The lieutenant of Wisdom cleared his throat after a few moments of silence.   
  
"Alright, our next stop is Tristram." were the last words exchanged over the city of Westmarch. Sabirah looked up over her shoulder at the sky, taking note of the massive clump of clouds in the distance. She sighed and began following the group, catching up with them quickly. Wherever Malthael was; he was doing a damn good job at staying there.   
  
She just hoped it wouldn't be too late when they found him.


	3. Tristram Cathedral (1)

Around halfway towards Tristram, dark clouds began to form in the once bright sky, putting the angelic hosts in a small panic. Sabirah stopped and looked up, her wings dimming down in their light. She flinched when a small, tiny droplet of what she assumed to be water fell on her wings. It made a 'tsss' sound upon contact, a stinging sensation running up her spine. The others, having noticed her absence, were quick to fly back to her, bombarding her with questions.  
  
"Is everything alright?"  
  
"Did you see something?"  
  
"What's wrong? Why did you stop?" Sabirah waved a hand of her, dismissing the questions before pointing back up, just in time for more water to drop from the sky. Now noting the problem, the maidens looked to Urzael, whose wings flicked a little.  
  
"Double time, we'll take refuge in the Cathedral." he said, flying behind them and ushering the angels forwards, his wings fluttering when he heard no protests of the plan.  
  
Finally sheltered from the water falling from the sky, the group looked around the cathedral, taking note of how the building looked from the inside.  
  
"Think someone still lives here?" asked Aracai, sparking laughter from a few of the maidens. Their laughter was cut short a sound; a growling sound mixed with what seemed to be gurgling. Sabirah bolted behind Urzael, peeking out from over his shoulder at the area the noise came from. The lieutenant protectively pushed the women behind him, drawing out his sword and holding it out in front of him as he slowly advanced.  The air around them felt suffocating, tense with dread and stress as to what exactly had made the noise. His wings were stiff and flaring, brightly illuminating the area around him, while leaving everything else in the dark. Slowly, one step in front of the other, he arrived at the source of the sound; a blank wall. He gave a groan, turning around and sliding his sword back in his scabbard. Tch, nothing of importance, maybe it was just one of those mortal creatures in a rut or something. His wings shifted to a more relaxed position when he looked at the maidens that were waiting for his analysis.  
  
"It's just some mortal creatures stuck outs-" he hadn't had time to finish when the floor underneath him gave out, the rubble caving in and falling just like he did. Sabirah gasped, rushing over and stopping at the edge, accompanied by her other fellow maidens. Where she couldn't talk, Ramma yelled down, seeing Urzael emerge from underneath what once was the floor.  
  
"Urzael! Are you alright?!" she asked, wasting no time in gliding down next to him, helping the man stand up. Sabirah let the others go down to meet them, yet remained up. She heard the faint growling of the cat resonate though her satchel, as if something was putting it on edge. She couldn't help but agree with the growls; this place reeked with horrible memories and events; no wonder it was abandoned now. Gripping the strap, she flew down and rejoined the group, her feet kicking up dust as she landed. She heard Urzael's dazed groan, followed by the songs of their wings quieting down. Sabirah walked aside, peering down the stone railing, only to be met with nothing but darkness below. Her sharp wings folded behind her back. The female wasted little time in huddling closer to the group.  
  
"We seem to have found an extra layer to the cathedral, Urzael." informed Ramma, earning an impressed whistle from Aracai.  
  
"... And we can't see anything." she added. Urzael, now having gone back to his senses, grumbled a little, chanting a few words before suddenly, most, if not all the candles that were present in the lower parts of the cathedrals were lit, lighting their way. The same gurgling of a growl noise came from the hallway in front of them, the angel now drawing out his sword again, pointing it sharply towards the noise again. This time, figures were seen in the dim light, three human- like figured in fact, crouched over something, the sound of liquid and flesh ripping breaking the once brief silence. Sabirah squinted, taking a moment to figure out what the figures were. She gasped, her wings going limp and rigid.  
  
"Risen." Abnormalities who were once human, but now corrupted and void of any peace, even in death.  "Far too many of them." Growled Urzael, who began approaching them with heavy steps. Of course, he wasn't silent, the risen humans snapped their heads over to his growing form, growls and wheezes escaping them. All the maidens heard, from when he stepped into the doorway, were screeches and growls of dying creatures; and those creatures were silenced as soon as they let out one sound. Only once all was silent again, did the maidens of Wisdom dare to approach, regrouping behind Urzael, despite being cramped. Sabirah looked down, her hidden eyes widening at the sight of what the Risen had been feasting on.  
  
A human- most likely a villager or farmer from nearby. She heard a whimper from one of the maidens, who spoke, her voice hushed and with pity.  
  
"The poor thing..."  Urzael remained silent at the sight of the bloodied body, the intestines having been ripped out and in the process of being devoured before he'd killed the Risen. At a further glance, there were bodies littering the floors, some in the process of decomposing or freshly killed. It smelled worse than the Hells; every human here had been recently killed. His wings flared.  
  
"Everyone stay behind me incase any of those unholy spawns try and attack." He ordered, rising up above the ground and floating forwards, the maidens doing the same. Sabirah sent a glance at Ramma, who dipped her head down and followed Urzael close behind. The maiden silently sighed, following behind the group, listening to whatever conversations they had regarding Sanctuary and the cathedral. Had she been allowed or even able to talk, she would have given out a few remarks and information to the angels. But alas, she'd made a vow millennia ago, far before humanity itself had been formed, and wasn't about to just break it after years and years of respecting it.  
  
A faint clap of thunder from outside was enough to make a few angels jump, startled by the sudden loud noise. She ushered forwards, never straying too far behind from the group in fear of getting herself into too deep of a trouble. Just as the party was beginning to walk up the stairs, Sabirah felt the satchel jostle around a little bit before the cat suddenly  squeezed itself out of the sack, jumping down and sniffing around, running off into the opposite direction of where they were going before Sabirah had a chance to react. The angel jumped, entering a frenzy of panic. She didn't even think before chasing after the cat, almost stumbling in mid air as she flew alongside the hallway, following the dark grey feline to wherever it was running off to.  
  
"SABIRAH!" She couldn't just /stop/ chasing after the damned cat, her body wasn't letting her, no matter how much her mind protested. Her worry grew stronger when she saw the cat run towards a Risen who was just pacing back and forth with wobbling legs, gurgling and wheezing, as if gasping for air. The feline ran past the risen, but, unfortunately, it took notice of her and grabbed her leg at a surprising strength just as she flew inches above it and nearly slammed her do the ground, had her wings not held her up. Sabirah looked up at the unfortunate creature, fear running up her spine, digging itself into her chest and lingering there. Out of instinct, her white tendrils of light wrapped around the risen, the sudden smell of burning rotting flesh engulfing her, almost making her gag. The one human let out a screech, letting go of her out of pure instinct, in which she took her chance to flee, leaving the walking corpse to burn in agony. By then, she'd realized the cat was gone, out of her sight.  
  
"Mrr." well, not gone, since she now could see it peek out from behind a corner. She flew over, about to pick it back up when it turned and ran away again, the only sounds heard from it being the pitter patter of its paws hitting the stone floor every once in a while, and being muffled when it ran over a carpet. Sabirah wished she'd have been able to say something, but instead was forced to resist the urge to yell for it to come back, and instead doubled her flight speed.  
  
"SABIRAH!!" yelled out a voice, seemingly growing closer to her. Then, the sound of a dying risen rung throughout the hall. Sabirah kept following the blind cat, watching as it rushed down some stairs before turning left and running off as if it wasn't blind at all. She lowered herself down, now resuming her chase in a run, since no Risen were in sight. The female couldn't help but squint at the ever approaching wall at the end of the path they were running on. She skid to a stop once the cat slowed down to a mere trot, stopping and sitting in front what looked like to be the entrance to a room.  
  
The cat stood up before she could grab it and trotted to a part of the room where there was something laying on the ground. She entered the room cautiously and approached it, taking a step back when she saw that it was a human body; with its head cut clean off and missing. Next to it was what looked to be a quill. With a wing tendril, she picked it up and brought it closer to her, inspecting the details. Wait...  
  
This was one of Malthael's quills. He'd been here before! She looked at the cat, her wings fluttering.  
  
"SABIRAH!" Oh Anu, the voice was louder now. Without thinking, Sabirah put the cat in her satchel as quickly as possible and closed it, turning around just in time to be met with Urzael rushing towards her. He looked less than happy, his wings tense and flared up, the  other maidens near him.  
  
"What in the Burning Hells was that?" he asked, a growl almost heard in his voice. Sabirah didn't respond, her wings twitching. Frankly, she herself didn't know what took over her; she just couldn't have stopped to chase the damn cat, no matter how much she'd forced herself to. She did however, show him the quill, in which he grabbed and inspected it himself, ignoring the body that lay nearby. Almost immediately, she felt his aura lighten up into one of hope and energy.  
  
"This was Master's!" he exclaimed. "He was here, he could still be here!" This is it, yes! If they were lucky enough, they could very well find him! Careful of the feather Urzael brought Sabirah in a hug, thankful for her discovery. Sabirah silently squeaked, patting his back to try and get him to let go of his crushing grip. Her wings perked up once he did, the two now exiting the room to join the others, who were curious to know as to why Sabirah just suddenly bolted for no apparent reason. Urzael showed them the quill, earning a few shocked gasps.  
  
"What could he have wanted here?"  
  
"It's the perfect place to hide, Ziziel, it's hidden and it's practically a maze; there's books and scrolls everywhere too."  
  
"Exactly," hummed Urzael, putting the quill in a pouch on his belt. "Which can very well mean that he's still here and that we have a chance of finding him and bringing him home." he said, his wings fluttering again.  
  
"We'll keep searching the cathedral for hidden rooms and other levels, hopefully the water would have stopped falling from the clouds by the time we're done." 


	4. Tristram Cathedral (2)

The halls down the cathedral grew darker in atmosphere. The deeper they went in, the harder it became for Sabirah to keep her mind clear. It was almost as if something was keeping her from remaining peaceful in thought, wanting to torment her until she got out. She couldn't help but agree with the 'getting out' part. Idly, she followed the group around, a hand in her satchel petting the curious feline. Though blind, it seemed to act as if it could very well see its surroundings. How endearing. She would have to keep a close eye on it if she wanted to learn anything from it.    
  
They stopped, coming upon another abandoned corpse. This one, however, seems fresh, the blood was still oozing out of their wounds and the organs were out, scattered as if something had tried to salvage what they could before retreating. The trail of blood was visible still, Sabirah noticed. She was sure the others did too.   
  
"I don't think Malthael would have gone any further, Urzael." Whispered Ramma, afraid she may attract the attention of Risen. Urzael, sensing her worry, scoffed and nudged the corpse with his foot, grunting in disgust.   
  
"We might find deeper clues in the next floors."   
  
"Urzael, if these abominations have been here for as long as we speculate them to have, then Malthael would have left as soon as possible." Countered Ramma, her light blue wings flaring a little. Like the other maidens, she was on edge about the Cathedral. Something just wasn't right here; the demonic presence lingered and grew stronger the deeper they went. It was probably influencing the lieutenant. Urzael growled lowly, his grip on his sword tightening.   
  
"Alright, we'll split up." Instant protests.   
  
"Split up?! That's a death sentence!" Some maidens exclaimed in surprise, while some, who, much like Sabirah was, wanted to get out as fast as possible, agreed with Urzael's choice.   
  
"In teams of two. Our rendezvous point is there and we'll only cover this floor. If there is any danger, feel free to use spells to dispatch of the threat. Now go! The sooner we cover this place, the sooner we can leave." And the sooner he got to take a break from their whining.   
  
Sabirah blinked, her sharp wings perking down. This was unlike Urzael; someone was definitely messing with them all. She watched as they split, Urzael being among the first to walk off along with another. Those that lingered around a little longer did not stray far; in fear that they could get lost. The maiden sighed quietly and lifted herself in the air, sending the unfortunate corpse one last glance before joining Ramma's side. The other glanced at Sabirah and chuckled, voice low.   
  
"Just you and me, huh?" Sabirah nodded.   
  
"Come on then. I don't know what's going on through that moron's head but I want out of this place and fast." The female would growl, approaching the nearby flight of stairs and left Sabirah alone for a short moment to think. This... wasn't the Ramma she knew, yet she agreed with her. The cat peeked its head out of the satchel and turned its head around, ears perked before it retreated back into the bag. Odd, but alright.   
  
"Sabirah! Come on." Echoed Ramma's voice, snapping the maiden of wisdom out of her train of thoughts. Of course, she almost left Ramma all alone. Quickly walking to the flight of stairs, Sabirah glided down towards her colleague, landing by her side. Her gaze was instantly directed to a sort of fountain. She spared a questioning look to the blue winged maiden, who only hummed in curiosity. Ramma lowered her wings down and dimmed their light, taking cautious steps towards the fountain; her sounds luckily muffled by the dusty red carpet underneath their feet.    
  
The liquid glowed red, it stood out remarkably against the dull colors of the ruined Cathedral.   
  
"What is that...?" Inquired Ramma, finally daring to grow closer. Without looking, she beckoned Sabirah closer and kept gazing into the thickened liquid, mesmerized at the thought of what it could be and be used for. Sabirah's wings folded closer to her body as she too got closer to the fountain of stone. The liquid was indeed thick, thicker than water and essence, that was sure, yet lighter than the tar blood of daemons. Ramma spoke, her wings perking up with interest. She almost felt compelled to touch the liquid.   
  
"It's very magically altered... it's like someone took Lady Auriel's healing capabilities, made them weak enough for a mortal to handle and then infused it magically so it could heal almost instantly on the spot." She explained, her light blue wings brightening at the thought of her theory being true. "But I still can't figure out what type of liquid this is..." she trailed off, letting Sabirah to her thoughts.   
  
She had many. None were good.   
  
The liquid was red. Red and thick. Blood. Except it couldn't be blood, no magical creature, whether fiend or not, ever bled in red. This was mortal blood. But it couldn't be; mortals had no magic in them, only the Nephalem did. The liquid still hadn't dried, thus was recent- unless one of the spells used on it kept it from ever spoiling and drying. Her wings flared and twitched. A frown. Sabirah didn't know what to think, her mind was jumbled and she couldn't find the correct answer. Or even something remotely close to the correct answer.   
  
"Maybe it is Malthael's doing!" Ramma theorized, reaching into her own satchel to pull out a vial. Sabirah squinted and remained still. Until, well,   
Ramma dipped the vial into the liquid. The mute maiden jolted in surprise, wings flared and panic evident, written in her very posture. If she could talk, and oh did she wish she could talk, she would have been yelling her song out. Violently, she grabbed Ramma's wrist that held the vial and yanked it away from the fountain, pushing the female back as Sabirah got in between her and the fountain.    
  
"Sabirah, what in the Blazing Hells are you doing?!" A glare was the maiden's reply.   
  
"Master could have done this, do you realize that?!" Sabirah kept glaring, her wings blocking all sight of the fountain and red liquid residing off of it.   
"So, what if Malthael didn't do this? We could examine it and identify the spells used to make it- either way, this is a win-win situation!" Ramma contested as she gently twirled the content of the vial around whilst making sure none of it would spill before, she closed it carefully, taking out a small piece of cloth to wrap around it.   
  
"I appreciate the concern, Sabirah, but you are doing too much." Grumbled the angel, gently placing the covered vial back in the satchel as she muttered under her breath a few things about being overprotective and how it gets annoying fast. Sabirah, still skeptic about the whole situation, slowly folded her wings and lowered their flare, dimming down the light they gave off. How Ramma could annoy her sometimes.    
  
Take a vow, they said. They will respect you, they said.   
  
Tsch. What lies.    
  
With tensions high and frustrations further developed, the two maidens continued over to the other flight of stairs. This time, this one led back up to the floor they had been on. My, this had been a rather small balcony trip. At least, she estimated it to be a balcony. Sabirah approached the stone railing and placed a gauntleted hand on it, feeling the rock around a bit. It was recent to her, but she could only imagine it to be old to the mortals that knew of it. She lifted her hand off of it and inspected the dust that clung to the metal of her gauntlet. Definitely old. Such amounts of dust could only have formed in a short time if the ceiling had caved in. And since she saw no signs of such a thing having happened in this area, she would continue believing that this place was very dirty. The mute maiden peeked over the stone railing and down at the abyss down below, her silver wings almost shuddering at how dark it was. Even with the torches lit around her, she still couldn't make out if this cathedral even had a bottom floor or an end. Simply gazing down below felt... creepy. Ugh.   
  
As she was about to rejoin Ramma up the stairs, Sabirah stopped.   
  
There was chanting. It was faint, but she definitely could hear it. The cat seemed to be able to do so too, seeing as it poked its head back out of the satchel with its ears yet again perked up. She looked down at the cat with doubt in her eyes. It wasn't the atmosphere of the sunken cathedral making her hear this, right? Oh, she hoped so. Sabirah listened for a few moments longer before the faint chanting stopped abruptly.   
  
And a scream of agony tore through the silence like a knife cutting through flesh.   
  
That was her cue to get the Hell out of there. No more curiosity, no more bad feelings, she wanted out of this cursed place as soon as possible.    
  
Jumping in the air, Sabirah gripped the strap to the satchel tightly and flew up the stairs, ignoring the bodies of unfortunate farmers she flew by as she rejoined Ramma, who seemed to have not noticed her absence at all. Odd. Quite rudely, the maiden of wisdom pushed the head of the cat back in the satchel, ignoring the future attitude she would get from it. Ramma came to a stop in front of a locked gate, her hands on her hips.   
  
"Hmm... a dead end." She looked over at Sabirah expectantly. Said maiden only raised her hands up in the air in an 'I did nothing' manner. She could do nothing too, not unless she decided to break the gates down with a spell. But in a place like this, such an action could only attract copious amounts of trouble.   
  
"Well... since there was nothing else in this hallway, let's go back.  I'll tell Urzael of what we found." Informed Ramma, who turned on her heel and began making her way back to the designated rendezvous point. Sabirah stuck close behind. The scream of pain kept replaying in her mind over and over again, almost making her ignore the small, muffled meow of the feline.   
  
"Mrrow." Yeah. She couldn't agree more with you, bud. To her luck, the way back to the rendezvous point was much quicker than she had thought it to be. They were lucky that the Risen had decided to abandon the corpses they were feasting on prior to their entrance, she would have hated to have to fight fiends on a mission as urgent as this.   
Urzael was there, along with half of the group. Ramma and Sabirah rejoined them. Soon the rest came back as well, and the report began, just like in Westmarch.   
  
"Well?" Hummed Urzael.   
  
"We found nothing but corpses." Reported Aracai.   
  
"Here too. A few books and scrolls here and there, but nothing to link with Malthael." Ziziel spoke, almost disappointed at the fact that she hadn't found anything of use in their search.   
  
"Sabirah and I, however, did find something of interest," begun Ramma, a hand sliding back down in her satchel to grab at the cloth containing the vial. She pulled the cloth back to show the liquid in the vial.   
  
"Something magically altered, we were hoping to examine it when we get the time to see if it has any connection with Master Malthael." She said, wrapping the bottle back up and putting it back into the satchel. Urzael nodded, his wings fluttering.    
  
"Good work. We'll take a break soon to analyze the clues we find. Now let us get the Hell out of here." For once, Sabirah couldn't agree more.   
  
By the time the group had gone up the floors and gotten back to the surface level of the cathedral, the feeling of dread grew weaker; giving the followers of wisdom relief. What was more exciting, however, was that the rain had stopped and they were now allowed to continue their search. Each took to the sky one at a time, a few exclaiming how good it felt to stretch their wings after events as stressful as those.   
  
Sabirah, however, sent the fallen cathedral one last uncertain and fearful glance. That scream would forever haunt her, she was certain of it. Her wings flapped, propelling herself closer to the group. After Urzael made sure the maidens were all there, he signaled them to follow him.   
And so, they did.


End file.
